 2008 Proposed By-laws | |  By-laws of the Sierra Nevada Chapter of the Public Relations Society of America Updated: October 2003 ARTICLE I - NAME The name of this non-profit organization shall be the Sierra Nevada Chapter, Public Relations Society of America. (PRSA) ARTICLE II - OBJECTIVES In accordance with the objectives of the Public Relations Society of America, the objectives of this chapter shall be to advance the art and science of public relations in the public interest; to encourage research, discussion and study of the problems and techniques of the public relations profession; to strengthen and maintain the highest standards of service and ethical conduct by all members of the profession; to exchange ideas and experiences and collect and disseminate information that may enhance or improve the professional knowledge, standards, ethics and standing of the membership; and to promote fraternalism within the profession. ARTICLE III - MEMBERSHIP Section 1 - Eligibility To be eligible for membership in the chapter, a person must be a member in good standing of the public relations profession, and meet the national eligibility requirements established by PRSA. Any such member of the profession, provided he/she does not hold membership in any other chapter of PRSA, is eligible for membership in the chapter. Section 2 - Admission to Membership The pertinent provisions of the bylaws of PRSA shall govern admission to membership in PRSA. Any person admitted to membership in PRSA shall become a member of the chapter, if eligible, upon payment of chapter dues. Section 3 - Associate Membership Members of the Public Relations Student Society of America or recent graduates of a public relations program may be Associate Members for a period of one year, with a reduced fee for membership to both the national chapter and the local chapter. Section 4 - Retirement Status Any member of the chapter who has been a member of PRSA in good standing for at least five years, has retired from a full-time public relations occupation, and is employed for less than 50 percent of the time in a public relations related endeavor is eligible for retirement. Applicable national dues will apply for national membership; local dues will be one-half of standard local dues and retired members will be eligible for the lowest price lunch offered at monthly chapter meetings. Members on retirement status shall enjoy all the rights and privileges of membership. Section 4 - Termination of Chapter Membership Any member who for any reason ceases to be a member of PRSA, or is dropped from PRSA's roll for non-payment of dues, shall cease to be a member of the Chapter and shall be dropped from the chapter roll. Section 5 - Rights and Privileges of Membership Subject to the bylaws of PRSA, the right to serve as an Assembly Delegate or Alternate Delegate or as Professional Advisor to a PRSA chapter shall be members who are accredited. All efforts will be made to find an APR; however, should the case be that no APRs are available to serve, a non-accredited member of the Board willing to serve will be the chapter's Delegate. Associate members may hold chapter offices of Vice President of Administration and Vice President of Finance until the chapter reaches substantial size (at least 50 members). Members in good standing shall have the right to participate in professional education seminars, reduced meal rates and any other privileges of membership. ARTICLE IV - DUES Section 1 - Amount The amount of chapter dues shall be fixed annually by the chapter's Board of Directors and shall be payable in advance to the chapter's treasurer on or before January 1 of each year. Reduced local dues will be afforded to students, non-profit agencies and retired PRSA individuals. Reduced rates will be considered one half of the regular local chapter dues. In addition, students, non-profit, and retired personnel will be eligible for the lowest price lunch at the monthly meetings, discounted rates for the annual professional development seminar and the annual Silver Spike Awards. Retired individuals are defined in Article III, Section 3 of the bylaws. Students are considered to be any individual taking a minimum of six credit hours from either an accredited community college or university and majoring in a communications, journalism or other field related to public relations. A non-profit agency is considered any charitable or civic organization with an IRS designation of a 501 C (3) and derives some of its operating revenues from donations, and is acknowledged by a simple majority of the chapter's Board of Directors as a non-profit agency. Section 2 - Nonpayment of Dues Any member whose chapter dues are unpaid for three months shall be considered not in good standing and shall not be entitled to vote, hold office, or enjoy other privileges of chapter membership. The member shall be notified in writing of his/her lapsed dues and consequential dropped membership. Section 3 - Fiscal Year The fiscal year of the chapter shall be the calendar year. Section 4 - Pro-Rated Membership The local membership costs of members who join after June 30 of any year will be pro-rated to half the annual amount. All others joining within the first two quarters of the year must pay full membership. Section 5 - Local Affiliate Membership In order to allow prospective members to determine the potential value of membership in PRSA, the chapter will allow for a local Affiliate Membership. Local affiliates will be eligible to receive reduced rates for all chapter activities, including paying the member cost for monthly luncheons. The Board of Directors will determine local Affiliate Membership cost. Local Affiliate Members will not be eligible to vote for chapter officers, nor will they be able to receive national materials, or take part in national PRSA activities. The local Affiliate Membership will remain in effect for one year, at the end of one year the local Affiliate Member must declare his/her intention to join the chapter. If the local Affiliate Member decides not to join, he/she will be subjected to the same costs as non-members. ARTICLE V - BOARD OF DIRECTORS Section 1 - Composition The governing body of the chapter shall consist of a Board of Directors consisting of the President, Vice Presidents of Programming, Vice President of Administration, Vice President of Finance, Vice President of Professional Development, Vice President of Membership, Ethics Officer, the immediate Past-President, the Assembly Delegates and four Directors-at-Large. All members of the Board of Directors will have voting privileges. Any vice president position will be eligible for presidential nomination presuming availability and interest. Section 2 - Assembly Delegate(s) The Assembly Delegate(s) shall serve as the chapter's representative(s) at meetings of the PRSA Assembly and shall be elected by the chapter membership for a one-year term in accordance with provisions of the national bylaws of the PRSA. In the event that the chapter president has achieved APR status, the president will be considered the primary representative of the chapter at regional and national meetings. Section 3 - Director at-Large On the first board of the chapter, one Director shall serve three years, one Director shall serve two years and one Director shall serve one year. Thereafter, all Directors-at-Large shall be elected each year by the chapter membership at its annual meeting and serve a term of one year beginning January . Section 4 - Vacancies In the event of death, resignation, removal or expulsion of any officer, director or Assembly delegate, the Board of Directors shall elect a successor who shall take office immediately and serve for the balance of the term or until the next annual election. Section 5 - Removal Any Vice President/Director who misses more than three consecutive board meetings without an excuse acceptable to the Board of Directors may be given notice of dismissal by the chapter President and replaced in accordance with Section 4 above. Section 6 - Board Meetings There shall be at least four meetings of the Board of Director at such times and places as it may determine. It shall meet at the call of the President or upon the call of any three members of the Board of Directors. Notice of each meeting of the board shall be given to each Director personally, via email, fax or by mail at least seven days in advance. Section 7 - Quorum A simple majority of the Board of Directors shall constitute a quorum of all meetings of the board. Virtual attendance through conference call or other technologically enhanced vehicle will constitute attendance. Voting by proxy through fax or email will be allowed if votes are received in response to the President's request and prior to the meeting date. ARTICLE VI - OFFICERS Section 1 - Chapter Officers The officers of the chapter shall be a President, Vice President of Programming, Vice President of Administration, Vice President of Finance, Vice President of Professional Development, and Vice President of Membership. The officers shall be elected by the chapter membership at its annual meeting for a term of one year and until their successors are elected and installed. No officer having held an office for two successive terms will be eligible for a third successive term as a chapter officer. Section 2 - President The President shall preside at all meetings of the chapter and of the Board of Directors. The President shall appoint all committees with the approval of the Board of Directors and shall be ex-officio member of all committees except the Nominating committee. The President will be responsible for writing and sending communiqu's from the Chapter. The President shall perform all other duties incidental to the office. Section 3 - President-Elect/Co-ChairsVice Presidents of Programming There will be two VPs of programming to prevent onerous commitment. Each VP will have voting privileges. The President-ElectVice Presidents shall, in the absence or disability of the President, exercise the powers and perform the duties of the President. It shall be the primary responsibility of the Co-chairsVice Presidents to coordinate the chapter's monthly meeting programs. As feasible, the President-ElectVice Presidents shall provide the Board of Directors with a list of program subjects for review by the Board and will be responsible for contacting approved speakers, coordinating audio-visual needs and other requirements for the program. The Co-chairsVPs will work with the Vice President of Finance to ensure venue arrangements and payments are completed. It will also be the responsibility of the Vice President of Programming to organize and administer an annual professional development seminar. The President-ElectVPs shall assist the President and perform such other duties as prescribed by the Board of Directors. Section 4 - Vice President of Administration The Vice President of Administration shall keep records of all meetings of the chapter and of the Board of Directors, send copies of such minutes to PRSA national headquarters as required in the national bylaws, issue notices of all meetings and perform all other duties customarily pertaining to the office. Section 5 - Vice President of Finance The Vice President of Finance shall receive and deposit all chapter funds in the name of the chapter in a bank or trust company selected and approved by the Board of Directors. The Vice President of Finance shall issue receipts and make authorized disbursements by check after appropriate consultation with the President or Board of Directors. The Vice President of Finance shall prepare the chapter's budget, make regular financial statements to the Board of Directors and perform all other duties incidental to the office. Section 6 - Vice President of Professional Development The Vice President of Professional Development promotes and administers the professional accreditation programs as designed by PRSA national. The Vice President of Professional Development will be responsible for maintaining an active membership listencouraging APRs fulfill their chapter obligations. It will be the responsibility of the Vice President of Professional Development to actively encourage and solicit chapter members to take the national accreditation tests administered in the spring and fall each year. Section - Vice President of Membership The Vice President of Membership will actively recruit new members to the Chapter. The VP shall maintain all membership files and provide updates to National on an as needed basis. Membership packets will be made available at every Chapter meeting and via the internet. Membership shall work with the Director of Student Relations to recruit new graduates and associate members to the Chapter. Membership shall work with Director of Publicity to ensure at least two members-only newsletters are distributed with member information. The VP of Membership shall solicit membership recruitment from "Friends of PRSA" at least once a year. Section 8 - Ethics Officer The Ethics officer shall seek education, training and guidance from PRSA's Board of Ethics and Professional Standards (BEPS), the College of Fellows and PRSA National. It will be the responsibility of the Ethics officer to provide ethics education and consultation to local board and chapter members throughout the year and to stimulate and encourage PRSA chapter members to seek guidance and clarification when they have questions about ethical principles, practices and standards of conduct in their day-to-day practice. The Ethics Officer will work with the VPs of Programming to ensure one program for the year relates to Ethics, preferably during National Ethics Month.The V Section 9 - Director of Publicity It will be the responsibility of the Director of Publicity to coordinate the activities of the chapter newsletter and other special chapter projects and/or events. It will also be the responsibility of the Director to coordinate publicity for the chapter, and to assist the VPs of programming with publicizing the monthly meeting by writing and coordinating the distribution of press releases. The Director will ensure the currency of the Chapter website. Section 10 - Directors of Special Committees The Co-Director of Special Committees will ensure the success of the annual Silver Spike Awards, the General membership meeting, to be held each November. The director will coordinate the Silver Spike Awards event itself: seeking sponsors, determining theme and orchestrating the event. Budget for the event must be approved by the Board of Directors prior to expenditure. The director will recruit a subcommittee chair to coordinate the judging services: arranging for Sierra Nevada Chapter awards to be judged and providing for the judging of another PRSA chapter's awards. The trade arrangement must be approved by the Board of Directors prior to commitment. In addition, this subcommittee chair will call for entries for the Silver Spike Awards and chair the committee of judges. Section 11 - Director of Public Service Each year the Sierra Nevada Chapter will make a contribution of pro-bono public relations work to a worthy non-profit within the Truckee Meadows. The Director of Public Service will solicit nominees, prescribe a strategy of participation and coordinate the services to the non-profit. The Board of Directors must approve the project. The director shall preside over the Public Service committee and recruit interested participants. Section 12 - Director of Student Relations With an eye to promoting the profession and maintaining collaborative relations with the University of Nevada Reno's chapter of the Public Relations Student Society of America, the Director of Student Relations will serve as a liaison between the professional and student chapters. Ideally, the director will be accredited. If an APR is not available to take on the full commitment of the position, an APR must serve as advisor to the student chapter. The Director will coordinate the mentor program with the student chapter and the chapter mixers. The Director will provide board development guidance and work with the Vice President of Membership to recruit new graduates to the professional chapter. Section 13 - Compensation or Reimbursement No elected officer of the chapter shall be entitled to any salary or other compensation. Elected officers, or assembly delegates may be reimbursed for their expenses incurred in connection with the performance of their duties only if an estimate for such expenses is provided in advance of the expenditure and only of the request is approved by a simple majority of the Board of Directors. ARTICLE VII - NOMINATIONS AND ELECTIONS Section 1 - Nominating Committee There shall be a Nominating Committee of no fewer than three members of the Board of Directors consisting of the Immediate past President, current President and the President-elect. Additional committee members may be appointed by the Board President. The Nominations committee will convene no later than 60 days prior to the annual meeting. Section 2 - Nominations The Nominating Committee shall name a qualified nominee for each office and for each Assembly Delegate and Director whose term is expiring. It shall ensure that each nominee has been contacted and agrees to serve if elected. Additional nominations if any shall be accepted from members at the annual meeting provided the nominees have been contacted and agree to serve if elected. Section 3 - Notice of Membership At least thirty (30) days before the annual meeting of the chapter, the Vice President of Administration shall mail, email or fax to all chapter members the list of nominees prepared by the Nominating Committee. Section 4 - Elections Officers, Directors and Assembly Delegates shall be elected at the annual meeting of the chapter in November. Election shall be by majority vote of the members in good standing present and voting. Balloting in contested elections shall be by secret ballot. ARTICLE VIII - COMMITTEES Section 1 - Standing Committees Standing committees of the organization shall include:
Special committees may be established and appointed by the President with the approval of the Board of Directors. Section 3 - Committee Reports The chairman of any special committee shall report its activities regularly to the Board of Directors. All committee activities shall be subject to approval by the Board of Directors. |